U of L releases details of appeal of NCAA ruling

Details of the University of Louisville’s appeal of NCAA sanctions were made public Friday afternoon. In documents sent to Spectrum News by the university, the institution calls the penalties issued by the NCAA Committee on Infractions “draconian” and states the COI “abused its discretion.”

Among additional scholarship restrictions and an institutional fine, the school is prepared to accept a number of penalties handed down by the COI. However, the school is appealing the vacation of records and the repayment of its share of revenues received from NCAA Tournament appearances.

The initial ruling from the COI puts over 120 Louisville wins in jeopardy. That includes an appearance in the 2012 NCAA Final Four and a 2013 National Championship. If forced to repay the shared tournament revenue, the school could be on the hook for millions of dollars.

The appeal also calls out the COI for ignoring the school’s self-imposed sanctions saying:

“The University fully agrees with the COI that McGee committed egregious
misconduct. And it does not dispute in the slightest that his actions warranted
serious penalties for McGee as well as the University. That is why the University
banned its own highly ranked team from the 2015-16 NCAA tournament,
voluntarily forfeited multiple scholarships, restricted the team’s recruiting
opportunities, disassociated McGee student-athletes who had not
cooperated with the investigation, and promptly paid a fine. And it is why the
University accepted without challenge most of the penalties the COI imposed.”

The appeal never denies that the actions of former staffer Andre McGee are reprehensible, but argues that the student-athletes involved were manipulated and were not “meaningfully culpable for McGee’s misconduct.”

Rick Pitino is also represented in a separate appeal of his five-game ACC suspension.

The COI must respond within 30 days from this past Wednesday. The University then gets two weeks to rebut parts of the COI response. Then, the NCAA’s enforcement staff will have 10 days to reply. UofL will have another 10 days to counter.